Dear fellow alums,

We made it through the first month of 2021! From the Capitol insurrection to inauguration to vaccine rollout, it has been a wild time for the news cycles and for many of us. We have taken comfort in gathering with fellow Mount Holyoke alums through our virtual events. This past month, we had a lively and informative M&Cs where we shared creative small business ventures and got to know some powerful local alums pursuing their passions. Our book club discussed Yaa Gyasi’s incredible debut novel Homegoing. In the second installment of our Uncommon Alums, Uncommon paths events series, we heard from Tracy Zhu ’08 who talked about (among other things!) her commitment to advance racial equity through local government policies, programs, and services, and reminded us that often “those closest to the pain are closest to the solutions.” Thank you to all of you who logged in and connected over Zoom. We are hopeful that we’ll be able to gather in person at some point in 2021.  

Join the Board

For those interested in being more involved, please consider joining our board. The next term begins in July 2021. Peruse the board descriptions and let us know if any positions spark your interest by reaching out to us by email. We are always looking for fresh perspectives and look forward to hearing from you. 

Lifetime Members 

Special thanks to Marian Burns ’68, who recently became our newest Lifetime Member. Thank you for your generous donation, and for your continued support of the NorCal Club! 

If any other alums would like to become Lifetime Members, we’d love to have you. Additionally, if your company offers corporate matching or incentives for volunteering or being a part of a non-profit organization, we are happy to work with them to find ways to financially support our club!   

Get in touch!

As we continue virtual planning for 2021, please let us know what types of virtual events, programs, and resources may best support you at this time or any which you may wish to offer. 

• What events or programming would you like to see? 

• Have a talent you’d like to share? A group you want to start? A community you’d like to nourish? Host one of our monthly M&Cs or another virtual event! Email us or fill out this form to get started. 

• We’d love to showcase members of our alum community on social media. If you’re interested in sharing your story with our local community online, let us know here.

We’re also still welcoming any recommendations of alums who have founded, work for, or volunteer at local Northern California organizations doing anti-racist work or fundraising and will include them in upcoming newsletters. Please send any recommendations to the Board at mountholyoke@gmail.com.

To hear the latest about our programming in-between our monthly newsletters, we encourage you to follow the Club on Facebook and Instagram. We also invite you to share resources, your virtual events, and more, directly in the Facebook Group.

Our very best wishes,

– The Board